A/N: Well, here it is. The final chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who's read this story, and thanks especially to those of you who have reviewed! I hope you all enjoy this last chapter.

Chapter Six: The Mirror

Brianna lay on the silver ground, egg shells all around her, trying to get her breath back. She had just gone through the worst pain she'd ever felt in her entire life. She didn't know what that black stone was, but when the girl wearing the slippers had held it and looked at her, she had immediately collapsed to the floor in indescribably agony. Her very bones had felt like they were on fire. It was by far the worst physical pain she'd ever felt.

She wasn't aware of Farid breaking eggs or throwing the the knife, nor did she hear the girl's laughter. There was nothing but agonizing pain, blocking out everything else. It was only when it abruptly stopped that she remembered where she was and what she was doing there.

Brianna sat up, fighting the wave of dizziness that came over her. At once she saw the girl lying in a pool of blood.

"Farid?" she said softly.

Immediately he turned his attention off the girl and on to Brianna.

"Is she..."

"Dead? Yes," Farid said.

Brianna wanted to feel glad that the girl who had just tortured her was dead, but she found that she couldn't, no matter how cruel she had been. She looked so different lying there. She looked like nothing but a harmless little girl.

Brianna turned her gaze away from the girl's body. She could already tell that the image would haunt her dreams in the future.

"Brianna, are you okay?" Farid asked, worry on his face.

"I'm f-fine," she replied, though it was obviously untrue. The room wasn't cold, but she couldn't stop shivering and shaking. Farid noticed this and put his arms around her. She leaned against him, feeling his body warmth.

Soon she pulled away. "The slippers...we're at the end of the maze, need to...leave..." It was difficult to get the words out. She felt nausious.

"Are you too dizzy to walk? We can wait for a minute," Farid said, but his eyes were screaming something else. They seemed to be shouting: We have to leave, now! The hour's almost up!

Brianna agreed whole heartedly. She stood up, overcoming her dizziness. "No, I'm fine," she said, and this time she meant it.

Farid quickly took the slippers off the dead girl's feet, while Brianna retrieved the leaf from the ground. She didn't remember dropping it, but she supposed she must have.

"Rose, leaf, slippers..." Farid murmured. "Let's go then- damn it! The door's still locked!"

Brianna groaned. After being so close to escaping, they were going to end up dying because of a locked door?

"Wait a minute..." Farid stared intently at the remaining eggs. Then, without any warning, he started smashing as many as he could.

Brianna shrieked as several things happened at once. Fire shot up from the ground, snakes slithered, hissing; bees suddenly filled the air, weapons fell to the floor. "Why the hell did you do that?" she screamed at Farid, swatting away some bees that were trying to attack her.

"There has to be a key in one of these eggs!" he shouted back. "Help me look!"

"I'm a bit busy right now!" she called, as part of her skirt caught fire. She quickly put it out, coughing from the smoke.

She heard more eggs break, and then Farid yelled, "Found it!"

Brianna stumbled towards his voice, but then stopped when she felt something slithering in her hair. She gave another shriek.

"Brianna?"

Something was moving in her hair! Images of horrible hairy spiders filled her mind, and she thought for a moment that she would faint from terror. But when she shook it out it was only a baby snake, something that was immensely less terrifying than a spider in Brianna's opinion.

"Brianna, where are you?" she heard Farid call. She couldn't see him, due to the thick smoke coming from the fire.

She tried to take a step forward but tripped over something on the ground. When she picked herself up she saw that her foot was covered in blood that wasn't her own. Brianna turned. It was the little girl's body she had tripped over, she realized, feeling sick.

She felt Farid's hand take hers. She grasped it, grateful they had found each other in all this chaos, though still annoyed that he'd broken the eggs without so much as a warning.

They stumbled the last few steps to the door, where Farid inserted the key into the lock. He turned it and the doors flew open, so suddenly that they both fell to the ground. Brianna got up, took a step forward- and found herself staring at a girl about the same size as herself, red hair a wild mess and various mild scratches covering her face and arms. Beside the girl stood a boy, who was in as bad a state as the girl. His black hair fell in his face, which had a cut on the cheek that was bleeding a bit.

It took Brianna a few seconds to realize that she was staring at herself and Farid.

It was a huge mirror, stretching all the way from the two walls of black trees. There was no way to move forward from there, and if they turned back they'd just be going back into the house of eggs.

For a moment neither said anything. Then Brianna gave a cry of frustration and rage.

"She said it was the way out! The girl said we'd reached the end of the maze! She said-"

"Brianna," Farid interrupted, suddenly sounding very tired, "I don't think there's a way out of here."

"What?"

"I don't think there's a way out of this maze at all," he repeated, though he knew she'd heard him the first time. "I don't think there ever was a way out. Right from the beginning it was completely hopeless! All of...everything...was for nothing! We're going to die, and there's nothing we can do about it," he finished, his voice cracking a bit.

Brianna sank to the ground, the leaf useless in her hand. They had miraculously managed to obtain all three items in time, but it didn't even matter, because there was no way out anyway! Everything they'd been through was completely for nothing.

She looked at Farid and saw that he was gaping at something, shock and disbelief written on his face. She turned, and saw what was making him look like that.

In the mirror, next to their own reflections, was a man. He had shoulder length hair the same color as Brianna's. On his face were three pale scars.

Dustfinger.

Her father.

Brianna turned from the mirror, for a brief moment expecting to see him standing beside her, but there was only Farid, who was staring at the mirror with longing.

She turned back. There he was again, standing next to her reflection.

She was losing her mind, Brianna decided. That was the only explanation. All she had experienced was causing her to go crazy. And it was no wonder, too.

But if that was the case, why was Farid also staring at the mirror with such longing? That didn't make any sense. He shouldn't be able to see the effects of her insanity. Maybe shewasn't losing her mind. Maybe what she was seeing was really real.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as Dustfinger began to speak.

"Hello, Brianna." He smiled that strange smile she hadn't seen for years, not since she was a little girl. "I've missed you," her father said softly. "I can see that you miss me as well."

It was so good to hear his voice again. So many nights she had lain awake in bed, trying to imagine what it would be like to hear his voice again, feel his arms around her...it was so many years since she'd hugged him. Brianna pressed her fingers against the glass, trying to get closer to him.

"You'd like me back, wouldn't you?" he asked softly.

Brianna couldn't say anything, so she just nodded. Beside her Farid was staring avidly at Dustfinger, filling his eyes with the sight of his scarred face.

"You could bring me back."

"How?" Brianna asked, staring at him in the same way Farid was.

Suddenly a new picture formed in the mirror. It now showed Roxane, Brianna, and Dustfinger all standing together, smiling happily. Longing filled Brianna's heart. She wanted to be as happy as she looked in the mirror.

"What would you be willing to do to make this picture reality?" her father asked.

"Anything." There was nothing she wanted more.

Nothing could have prepared her for his next words.

"Kill the boy."

"What?" she gasped.

Dustfinger turned his gaze to Farid. "Kill the boy. Kill Farid."

No. This was not happening. Her father had not just told her to kill him. He hadn't said to kill Farid. He couldn't have. He loved the boy like a son, though for so long it had made her angry. He had died for Farid! He didn't just tell her to kill him. Why would he say such a thing?

The answer was simple: because this wasn't her father. Dustfinger was dead, and seeing him in a mirror didn't change that. This was just another trick of the maze. Part of Brianna knew that, knew this wasn't her father, but she couldn't truly belive it. She had actually heard his voice. She'd thought she'd never hear it again.

"Brianna, don't you want me back? Don't you want us to be happy?" Dustfinger put his arm around Brianna's reflection, and she was suddenly hit with a fierce longing to really feel his arms around her.

"It would be easy to bring me back, so easy. All you have to do is kill the boy. Is that really so much to ask? After all, it's because of him I died in the first place. You could even say it's his fault."

Hurt, guilt, and betrayal flashed in Farid's face, but still he looked longingly at Dustfinger, despite the words he was saying.

Brianna's mind was a whirlwind. Kill Farid? No. She couldn't do it. Of course not. But if she brought Dustfinger back to life they'd all be happy. Her mother would be happy. She would be happy. No, I wouldn't, she thought. Not if Farid was dead. Especially if I killed him. But to have her father back...but no, this wasn't even her father! Her father was dead!

Suddenly she felt something in her hand. It was a dagger. How did that get there? she wondered dazedly. Farid was staring at the dagger too. Brianna couldn't read what he was thinking.

"Kill Farid, Brianna," Dustfinger said, his voice almost seeming like a spell. "Kill him, and we'll all be happy again, just like we were years ago."

She had a weapon in her hand, and Farid was defenseless. She could easily kill him. But suddenly she thought of all they'd been through together in the past hour. She saw images: Farid pulling her along as they ran from the wolf, Farid finding her when she was trapped among the tunnels, Farid admitting he'd nearly agreed to become a ghost, Farid saving her from the little blonde girl.

And suddenly she knew that she could never kill him. She'd known it all along.

Brianna raised the dagger, and Farid thought that she would plunge it into his heart, but instead she threw it at the mirror. The glass shattered, a thousand tiny pieces falling. Dustfinger was gone.

Nothing was left of the mirror but glass shards on the ground.

Now that it was gone, Farid and Brianna saw that the girl had not been lying. They really had reached the end of the maze. The path went on for several feet, but not far away the rows of black trees ended. The last two ones on either side were leaning towards each other, forming a doorway. The escape.

They could see the sky from beyond it. They were so close. They started running...

But then complete chaos erupted.

It started with fire. The flames sprang up from the ground, but they were unlike any flames they had ever seen. This fire, instead of red, was black. Fire all around them, they were sure they'd be burned alive. But the flames didn't harm them. The two teenagers didn't know it, but it was because they had the three items. If they had lacked any one of them they would have died, but they had them all, and so remained untouched by the fire.

They ran through the flames, faster than they had ever run before. The sun would rise any minute, but they were so close...

But suddenly dozens of creatures appeared. It seemed that everything they hadn't already run into had come to prevent them from leaving. It was madness. Creatures everywhere,the air was suddenly filled with screeching, barking, yelling, and growling. They were all around- wolves, dogs, skeletons; all with only one purpose in mind: to stop them from escaping.

Precious seconds ticked by as Brianna and Farid forced their way forward, like sand slipping through their fingers. Each were silently begging the night to last a bit longer.

Sun, don't rise!

They were almost there...only a few feet away now...

Suddenly Brianna realized she didn't have Farid's hand anymore.

The seconds ticked silently by; the hour was almost up...The sun would rise any minute now...

Brianna turned and saw that Farid was struggling against a huge bear.

Day was creeping closer...

What could she do to help him? Brinna felt absolutely desperate. We're not going to make it, she thought. Suddenly she realized she was still holding the dagger that had appeared in her hand, the one she had been supposed to kill Farid with.

Night was fastly fading...any minute the sun would rise...

Brianna threw. The bear fell motionless to the ground, and Farid ran to her, gasping.

The exit was only ten feet away.

A pack of large dogs blocked their way, but Farid and Brianna forced their way through.

Only five now...

The sun was creeping closer. They wouldn't make it...

Three steps now...

Night was gone.

Only one more step...

The sun rose.

Everything exploded. Brianna was aware of lots of red, and then being flung into the air...and the nothing.

oOoOoOo

Farid slowly opened his eyes. Every bone in his body was aching. For a moment he didn't know where he was, but then it all came back to him: seeing Dustfinger in the mirror, the sun rising, everything exploding...Brianna! Where was she? Had she made it out alive?

She was beside him, pushing herself up. They seemed to have both lost consciousness, though not for long.

They were out of the maze. Alive and unharmed. It was a miracle.

Tall black trees stood a little ways off. They could only see a small bit of the maze; the whole thing must have been huge. The part they could see was on fire. Smoke rose from the flames.

Then, right before their eyes, the whole thing faded. The maze was gone, as if Farid and Brianna had never even entered it. Never nearly lost their lives...

Farid was confused. They hadn't made it out of the maze before the hour was up. The sun had risen right before they reached the end. Hadn't they been supposed to drop down dead or something? So why were they still alive?

The explosion, he realized. They must have been thrown out of the maze as everything blew up. If the sun had risen even a few seconds earlier than it had, they wouldn't have made it.

A yellow bird was sitting in a tree above them, the boy and girl oblivious to her presense. When the maze faded she flew off into the dawn, leaving Farid and Brianna never knowing that the events of the past hour were all because of her.

"Well," Brianna said softly, "it's over. We made it through alive."

Farid nodded. They had made it through alive, so why weren't they celebrating? Why did they both feel so weary and sad?

Because nothing's changed, he answered himself angrily. It's exactly as it was before. Dustfinger was still dead. They both still worked for Orpheus. They would still go on leading their depressing lives. Their time in the maze hadn't changed anything. Was it even a good thing they were still alive?

Farid glanced sideways at Brianna and realized he was wrong. Things weren't exactly the same as before. They had each other now. Being trapped in the maze together had formed a bond between them that wouldn't be broken just because it was over. The maze was gone, but the way they had worked together, saving each other's lives, was still fresh in their memories.

Brianna looked around. "Do you have any idea where we are? Because I don't."

Farid looked around and found that he recognized their surroundings. They were at the edge of a small forest. Gently curved hills were in front of them. It was a peaceful though lonely place with no houses or people close by.

"We're near Cheeseface's mansion," he answered. "I come hear sometimes, to...think."

"Cheeseface?" Brianna said, smiling slightly.

"Orpheus."

"I know who you meant. Nice name for him."

They sat together in silence, neither wanting to leave. The sun had risen, but it was anything but sunny. It looked like it was going to be a cold, cloudy day. Rain was more than likely, but still neither Farid or Brianna thought of leaving.

Each was mentally reliving everything. Both found themselves thinking of seeing Dustfinger in the mirror.

"I was almost sure you would kill me," Farid said quietly.

"No," Brianna said just as softly. "I could never do that."

"When he said he could come back if you killed me...I wanted you to."

Brianna didn't answer for a moment. Then she said, "He wouldn't have really come back to life if I had; it was just another trick of the maze, like Rosanna. It wasn't really him. If it was he would never tell me to kill you."

Neither said anything for a while.

"Farid...could you make fire dance for me? Please, it might make him seem closer."

Him. Farid didn't have to ask who he was.

"I don't know, Brianna..."

"Please!" she implored. "You're the only one who can do fiery flowers like my father. It might help us! Both of us."

Farid hadn't played with fire since Dustfinger's death. But she was looking at him so pleadingly that he just couldn't disappoint her. He stood up. If not for himself, he would do it for her.

Farid whispered fire words and felt flames leap up in his hands. The fire crackled back to him, speaking the language that only he and Dustfinger understood. This felt so familiar, so right, that for a moment Farid thought Brianna was right.

But then a wave of memories came over him, so strong that he felt dizzy. Fire was too connected to Dustfinger. Farid saw pictures in his head: Dusftinger first teaching him about fire in Meggie's world, Dustfinger giving him fire elves' honey and showing him how to talk to the flames, Dustfinger lying dead in the mines, Roxane's name burning in fiery letters on the wall.

That was why Farid never played with fire anymore: because it was so connected to Dustfinger. The fire in his hands went out, as if the pain in his heart had extinguished it.

He sat back down, not looking at Brianna. He couldn't help but feel guilty, as if he had let her down.

Everything was quiet. They both felt so empty, as if their time in the maze had completely drained them. Neither knew what to do; they both felt so lost.

Finally Brianna broke the silence again. "Do you really believe that Orpheus can bring my father back?"

Farid dropped his head in his hands and sighed. "I don't know...I thought he could for a while, but now...I really don't know what I believe."

He lifted his head again when he heard a soft sniffeling sound. "Brianna?"

Tears were streaming down her face. "I'm- sorry-" she sobbed. "It's just- seeing him in the mirror..."

Farid sat next to her helplessly, not knowing what to do. He gently wiped a tear off her cheek with his finger. It hung there like a pearl.

"You're lucky," he said softly, gesturing at the pearly tear. "To be able to cry...I never shed tears anymore. I don't think I even can. It would be such a relief to."

His last sentence was so quiet that Brianna almost didn't catch it. At last he looked up at her, and their eyes met.

As they looked into each other's eyes, for the first time they truly saw how alike they were. They each saw their own pain mirrored in the other's eyes. For so long they had thought no one understood, but now they realized they were exactly the same. Two broken hearts, lost and alone in the world.

Brianna put her arms around Farid and hugged him in a way unlike she had hugged him before. She was trying to pour an ocean of comfort into it, and at the same time be comforted herself. For now at last they saw that they were indeed more alike than they had ever imagined.

As Brianna tightened her arms around him, Farid felt something in his eyes that he thought he might never feel again. Tears. They flowed, faster, and faster, as if all the sorrow and pain of the last few months could just be washed away.

Rain began to fall, softly at first, but steadily turning to a storm. The trees began to sway in the wind. The rain came down faster and faster.

Farid and Brianna stood in the midst of it all, hanging on to each other as if they were their only life line in the turmoil all around them.

And so the two broken hearts found comfort in each other's touch, and though the rain showed no signs of letting up, both in the sky and in their hearts, they both felt somewhere in their souls that eventually the sun would shine again.

The End

A/N: A final thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story! It means a lot to me. :)